Mill Creek Culture Artifacts Housed in New Museum

A new museum has been created to house artifacts of Iowa’s important Mill Creek Culture. Read the news below:

They are described by archaeologists as the Mill Creek Culture. They lived along the Big Sioux and Little Sioux rivers and their tributaries in Woodbury, Plymouth, Cherokee, O’Brien and Buena Vista counties. When they lived is what makes this story interesting.

They called this area home in the 12th century — from 1100 to 1200 A.D. Then they disappeared. And, no one quite knows why, Lynn Marie Alex, director of education and outreach for the Iowa Office of Archaeology, told me.

The state office at the University of Iowa in Iowa City has been the repository of thousands of Mill Creek artifacts — many coming from the Kimball and Broken Kettle sites in southern Plymouth County. The Kimball site is just north of Stone Park between the Big Sioux River and the Loess Hills.

“In the 1920s and 1930s, people dug up the Kimball site and most of the artifacts were sent to the state,” Steve Hansen, director of the Sioux City Public Museum, said.

When the new museum opens in November 2010, the state will return many of those artifacts to be placed on permanent display. He saw many of the items earlier this year.

“It’s like being in a candy store from a museum standpoint,” he gushed. “We’re in the process of making those selections on what we want back here to tell the story of the Mill Creek Culture.”

Gary C. Daniels

Gary C. Daniels is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated television, video and multimedia writer and producer. He has a passion for history, archaeology, and astronomy. He is the founder and publisher of LostWorlds.org.